I'd like to see a Boston Dynamics quadruped robot with a travel mode other than "jog" or "bounce".

Here's a longer version of the announcement including a demonstration of a quadruped.

That's a major shift in momentum and center of gravity; good to see the quadruped handle that. Now, if only they had midgets in that hangar...

>> ^MarineGunrock:

LOL - haven't laughed that hard at an internet video in a while.
>> ^mxxcon:
There's also footage of DARPA's BigDog Beta


and see how much this video is spot on, here's the original http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1czBcnX1Ww

LOL - haven't laughed that hard at an internet video in a while.
>> ^mxxcon:

There's also footage of DARPA's BigDog Beta

Your video, DARPA's gigantic new quadruped "AlphaDog", has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

>> ^ColHrFrumpyPants:

Awesome, millions of dollars to build a horse. /FACEPALM
But a horse don't have backwards facing knees!

Really dude? This technology could be incredibly useful. I wouldn't cast it off like you have.

>> ^Drachen_Jager:

This thing has Congressional Pork all over it. If they could just cut all the utterly stupid defense contracts like this one the US economy might have a fighting chance.

>> ^oohlalasassoon:

Undeniably cool from a mechanical/robotic engineering standpoint, as is Honda's Asimo, and I applaud the abilities of those able to pull this off, but I can't see past the obvious: this is an unnecessarily-complex and unreliable mode of motion and these humans be ego-trippin about they legs.


It could be useful for carrying heavy loads up stairs and through narrow corridors where wheels or quadrupeds would be less practical. It will be interesting to see what it can do once they get it working on uneven terrain.

On the other hand, if we get brain-computer interfaces working a little better then maybe a future version of these could replace wheelchairs.

Upvote for the change of footing in the running clip. first, the left paw is front, then it switches the right in front as it changes direction. Didn't know quadrupeds do that.

>> ^McFarQue:
>> ^jwray:
The sensationalized commentary was misleading.
So It can swing a 65 kilo doll around. Big deal. In a one on one fight for survival, a real live human would have a chance, with or without tools. If you can kick a football 70 yards, you can knock out a tiger. The obvious tactic would be to kick the shit out of it before it can even get in range to bite vital areas.

You really should do some research on the tactics a tiger uses to take down it's prey.
Kicking the shit out of it sounds like a great plan, with one small catch. You need to land those kicks, and plenty of them to win. All the while this cat is playing with you like a kitten with a sock. At the point that it gets tired and just jumps at your face, you better be ready to doge like a ninja or die like a chewtoy.



One good kick to the right part of the head could give it a terrible concussion, depending on what sort of shoes you're wearing. As bipedal primates, our kicks are much more agile and long-range than those of quadruped mammals. Tigers rely on stealth and striking from behind because of the ridiculously short range of their main weapon (the teeth). If you see it coming, you have a good chance. Humans are better at long-distance running, too, because we don't overheat as easily. A tiger can sprint faster than a human athlete for only a very short distance. And humans are much better than tigers at climbing trees, or picking up wood from the ground and using it as a weapon (which increases the difference between the tiger's strike range and your strike range). If it tries to pounce from 6 feet away, you have plenty of time to knock it sideways while it is in an unstable posture with only half of its limbs on the ground (its usual prey are quadrupeds whose limbs aren't well oriented to do such a defensive maneuver, and who couldn't turn quickly enough to maintain an orientation facing the tiger).

Poor little quadruped needs some Allegra...